Hey guys and gals,
Here is the first of what I hope to be many instalments of my thoughts and
experiences while working in the mines of WA. But first, lets wind the clock
back a week or so to leaving Melbourne on Monday morning...
Compared to the last time I came to the mines, I packed very light. Mainly
just work clothes and safety gear, enough food for a week or so and my camping
gear. Leaving Melbourne just after sun up and deciding to travel though South Australia via
Renmark (not Adelaide) my first issue occurred just before Bendigo when I missed
the turn off to Mildura. Not sure how I did that as I had all the maps there
and the GPS and still for some reason decided to stare at the clearly marked
‘Mildura Turnoff’ sign as I drove right passed it. After swearing at myself for
a bit, 20 minutes later I was back on the calder fwy after visiting the great
town of Bendigo. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I made good time
surpassing Renmark and making it to Burra for the night. Deciding on the budget
option I then spent the night in the back of the car, which wasn’t too bad. The
next morning was quite nice driving through the country side to Port Augusta,
and then in the afternoon the landscape opened up as I drifted into western SA.
I finally pulled up stumps in a truck stop about 300kms east of Western Australia and again
took the cheapest bed going. Day 3 was the day I was not looking forward to.
1000kms of nothing. The last few hours of the day I was stiff and sore and
wanted to be anywhere but in the drivers seat. Also my mind was starting to go
a bit loony as the only human contact I had was the truckies on the CB. Finally
arriving at my truck stop destination I was very unhappy to see that it was
packed with caravans and there was nowhere to park. Angrily I headed back out
onto the highway to find another spot. My anger didn’t last long, and I was
relieved to find there was another truck stop on the other side of the road for
people traveling east, no more than a kilometer up the road, and the best part
was that there was plenty of room to choose from. Hang on, my can of bourbon is
empty, back in a sec. As I had made such good time the whole trip, day 4 would
be my last and I should get into Perth around 4pm or so. The traffic on the
road changed as I exited the Nullarbor and started to return to civilisation.
The highlight was being directed to pull over by a pilot vehicle. I then
noticed coming around the bend in front of me were 2 semi’s carrying the tubs
from dump trucks. They were 8.5m wide loads and were taking up 3 lanes. That
was when I new I had arrived in WA and that everything here is so much bigger
than in Victoria.
Upon arriving in Perth the first thing I wanted was a shower. So after a
little internet research I discovered caravan parks weren’t as cheap as they
used to be (wanting $40+ a night for an unpowered tent site). I finally found a
caravan park pretty close to the CBD and only wanting $25 (in hindsight that
should have been my first clue) but I wasn’t thinking along those lines, so I
took it. As I pulled into the caravan park the old fellow was at my car window
before I’d even shut off the engine. I was directed to a spot just down the
road and gave him my $25 which went straight into his pocket (second clue).
Before leaving the car park at reception the old fellow asked who I followed in the
footy. I thought ‘here we go’ and responded “Collingwood”. After a few more
exchanges the old man said to me “Since the AFL started there are 4 teams that
have entered the competition that start with the letter F. Can you name them?”
Before reading on, can you name them? If you know your footy, you will have got the
first 3, as did I, Fitzroy, Footscray and Fremantle. But I couldn’t think of
the 4th. I looked at the old man puzzled and shaking my head, he smiled and
said “F*#@ing Collingwood”. I had a good laugh with the fella and as I drove
down the road to my site I wondered what I was in for (maybe I had found
Frankston’s equivalent). Before unpacking I headed straight for the showers. 1
of the 3 showers was out of order and the other 2 looked like they should have
been. I took the best of the 2, which still had 50% of the wall tiles and only
1 razor on the floor. I was surprised when the water came out clear and hot,
although not much pressure, but after 4 days without a shower it did the trick.
With the mercury hitting 38*c earlier that day, I exited the shower to find it
was raining, stupid of me for thinking I could escape Melbourne’s bloody
weather. After unpacking, I went to find the camp kitchen. After a lap of the
park I found out that for $25 you don’t get a camp kitchen, however there was a
microwave in the laundry, and that was all I needed. However, I opened the
microwave door to find the rotating dish and been taken and that something that
resembled instant noodles had exploded in there. So, back at my car I was
cooking tea when a few of my neighbours decided to introduce themselves. After
chatting with a half dozen or so neighbours, I started to discover a trend. All
bar 1 (a hard working Kiwi and nice fellow) were jobless, drunk, divorced, were
missing teeth and wanted to tell me how life had treated them so badly. At that
point I though I could move up to Frankston. I went to bed that night praying
that I would still have 4 tyres and an engine in the morning.
I woke early the next morning so as to pack up and leave before my newly
made friends woke from their alcohol fuelled sleep. On the way out of the park I ran into another bloke who again was
jobless but at lease could hold a conversation. He was nice bloke and gave me a
list of employment agencies to look for work at. So, that’s how I spent
Friday. After doing the rounds in Perth, I headed south (about 45 minutes) to
Rockingham to drop off more copies of my resume. It didn’t take long for me to
decide that Rockingham was at the other end of the scale to my caravan park.
Although it was a dull, dreary, raining day I could easily see myself living in
Rockingham opposite the beach. As the day drew to a close I needed to find
somewhere to spend the night as I wasn’t going back to see my old mate and his
caravan park. After checking out the caravan parks in Rockingham and deciding
that I spend their nightly fees better elsewhere, I headed bush to again take
the cheapest bed going. I arrived at the camping spot to find the entrance had
been blocked to cars with a gate, large rocks and fallen trees. So I found a
level spot and set up camp in front of the gate. This morning I hiked down the
path to the toilets to find they had been boarded up and hadn’t been used in
some time. Obviously this was no longer a used camp ground and someone has just
forgotten to take it off the internet and all of the maps.
Today I have applied for a remote area job on the internet and done a bit
of exploring, and then went looking for another bush camping ground that I
couldn’t find and now that I think about it am wondering if it exists. So I
headed off up a 4 wheel drive track and have set up camp, um, somewhere?! And am
now writing an email and drinking bourbon, speaking of which, I think I’m
empty. So I think I will leave it there. Has been an interesting week.
Hopefully next week will bring about a job as it is hard work looking for
work.
Til next time, hope all is well wherever you are.
Cheers
Nath
